Matty Hutson

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 21st July 2023

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times. And now it's time for a multi-skilled musical comic, who's taking his debut show to this August's Edinburgh Fringe. Please allow him to introduce himself...

"I'm Matty Hutson, a musical comedian with a little bald head and a heart of gold," the Warrington wit explains. "My show is called Don't Hold Back - and it's about trying, and failing, to fit in. I'm not just a musical comedian playing a guitar. I'm also playing the piano, DJing and saying some pretty hilarious words in between doing that."

We caught a version in Brighton a few months back, which was already highly entertaining, but "I've been tinkering with the show and it's changed a lot in the past month or so," says the comic. Intriguing. So what does he hope to achieve, by the end?

"My main goal for the Fringe is to try and fill as many seats as possible and make the people in those seats laugh," he says, not unreasonably, "and also to be the comedian that eats the most jacket potatoes."

Hotly contested. Now let's find out how Hutson got there - it all began with a fringe.

First gig?

I was doing musical comedy at a traditional folk music open mic night in Edinburgh. It was all old men in straw hats playing banjos and then I turned up with a backcombed side fringe and a dream. They talked over the whole thing and I got quite upset.

Favourite show, ever?

The first time I got to the Musical Comedy Awards final. It was in the West End theatre where they do Thriller and was sold out. I love doing comedy on big stages and it's fun to hear my songs come out of a real sound system - instead of the death trap speaker set-ups that most comedy clubs have.

Worst gig?

I once tried to save a very awful gig in Bristol by having a rap battle with a bald audience member that looked exactly like me. He won, and while he showboated I just wandered off the stage and lay down for 45 minutes. On the train back to London a drunk man sung Baby Shark for the entire two-hour journey.

It's between that and the time at Leicester Comedy Festival when the only people that came to my show were five middle-aged brothers, and I bombed doing hyper specific crowd work about their extended family for an hour.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

Rob Copland - he's my best friend in comedy and I never get tired of watching his act. He can be doing a sold-out weekend or a dingy new material night, but he'll always challenge himself to create something unique and in the moment. He's the only comedian I've ever seen crowdsurf.

For a while he used to challenge strangers to wrestling matches when we'd go for a pint, but he's grown out of that now.

And who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

I don't love talking to industry professionals that have taken loads of cocaine, but it happens more often than you'd think! Call me old fashioned but my drugs of choice are the smile of a young comedy fan's face and a comedy technician that knows how to use a mixing console, and also heroin.

Is there one song/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

I like writing songs that play with the fine line between something being sad and funny. But sometimes I get it wrong and accidentally write something that is just incredibly moving. I get it though, some people just aren't ready to hear an emo song from the point of view of a jar of harissa paste.

Any reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions stick in the mind?

People always say to me - 'You're good! You could be a REAL musician'. They are being nice and I know a lot of musical comedians are failed musicians in some way. But I've always just done this. I like it!

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

Honestly, I love it. I get to play amazing gigs all over the country. I just did my first tour support with Rosie Holt, two shows in Reykjavik and I'm excited for my debut Fringe show. I was a shy kid - and it took a long time for me to feel confident on stage. So I still get a real kick out of the idea of 13 year-old me seeing where I am now. Wherever we go from here it's all gravy.